One of the key themes of the Bush’s foreign policy is the promotion of freedom and democracy across the globe. This idea was reiterated to the American public during his State of the Union speech. To the lay American public, democracy means the freedom to choose and the freedom to vote for whoever you believe is best fit for the position at hand.

What if a nation decided to vote and thus democratically elect a government that promotes violence and terror? Does this fit the goal of the Bush’s foreign policy?

Many Americans were alarmed to hear that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Western nations, was elected into governing the Palestinian people. Palestinians have argued that Hamas has promoted humanitarian efforts for them.

Despite those claims, however, from the Western point of view, Hamas is known as a terror organization that has killed hundreds of innocent Israeli citizens.

Hearing the reports from the Middle East, it seems that the corruption of Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party was the reason for the Hamas victory.

Many Palestinians were upset with the current government. In democratic fashion, they voted the party in power that they were displeased with out of office.

The Palestinians had a choice of keeping a corrupted, dysfunctional political party in power, that had developed into an ally of the West. The alternative was to elect a group of people that have more experience in terrorism than in running a government.

Without Western support, theoretically Hamas could receive their financial aid from Middle Eastern countries such as Iran, Egypt and others. It has been well documented that Iran has given the Palestinians funds.

Unfortunately for the Palestinians, the amount of money coming into their pockets will not even come close to the amount of money the United States has given them over the years.

With United States’ aid to Palestinians now drying up, Hamas will have to ask itself a fundamental question: should they choose diplomacy or war?

It remains to be seen whether Hamas will comply with the Western world’s demands of disarming, so as to no longer be a known as a terrorist organization. When they are no longer able to financially support themselves, they will have no choice but to go to the negotiating table with Israel and the United States.

Adam Hecht can be reached at hurley409@verizon.net